I received an email a couple days ago from the company who hosts this blog*. And I’m staring at a list of to-do’s much longer than my time and ability to do. Some things will need to get cut. And so I say to my inner brain, “Are you thinking what I’m thinking, Pinky?”

Is it time to give up blogging/writing?

I’ve been doing this for almost a decade now. I’ve watched my little blog turn into something a bit bigger than just a place to write devotionals for teenagers I was discipling. It’s been fun but I’ve read Ecclesiastes and there is a time and season for everything.

The question was asked at Band of Bloggers, “Is Blogging Still Relevant”? After all, it seems as if the popularity of blogging is giving way to podcasts. Most on the panel seemed to indicate that blogging still had a place—more than anything, and quite ironically, as a more permanent fixture than other forms like podcasting. But a couple of others seemed to indicate that they’d moved on and felt that we should too. (PS: I didn’t simply “go for the books” I went to be encouraged).

As I stare at my list of things to do, look at my contract for hosting, and reflect upon the discouragement of Band of Bloggers I’m seriously pondering that question. Is this blog still relevant (if it ever was)? Or is the time I spend writing on this blog time that ought to be spent on other endeavors?

I realize that the heart of this question is not about whether or not I should keep writing. I can’t not write. I may not be the bestest at it, but it’s part of who I am. The question is really about whether or not I should publish what I’m writing in the form of a blog.

This probably sounds a bit like a Dear John letter. It’s not. I don’t intend to shut down the blog. I’ll renew my hosting and keep plodding along. There are two many reasons why and neither of them have anything much to do with building a platform or making sure I stay relevant.

First, I’m grateful to the many relationships that blogging has created and I believe will continue to create. Truth is, as a local church pastor sometimes things can get a bit lonely. People who are outside my situation can often offer helpful counsel because they are a bit distanced. I know that ultimately my deepest relationships will be within the local church God has placed me—but I thank God for the many men and women he has allowed me to connect with through my time of blogging. And I look forward to meeting (even if only in cyberspace) many others.

Secondly, and this is the chief reason, I believe what I write is used by God on occasion to edify His bride. I know that not every time I share the gospel someone is going to come to Christ. Some of the outreaches that we do as a church will flop bigger than LeBron James. But we keep plodding along because sometimes God uses our efforts and people are saved and the church is edified. I write for the same reason. Sometimes what I write just disappears into the ether. But on occasion somebody will be helped (on occasion the person helped is myself) and that’s why I keep going.

If I were doing this for celebrity or some similar reason I think I’d have walked away today. But I’m not. So I’m going to keep plugging away in the hopes that God will once again choose to speak through someone whose just a bit lower than Balaam’s donkey.

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I think “hosting the blog” is the proper terminology. Truth is, I just write and hit send and when I mess something up friends (like Nick Horton) play with the stuff behind the scenes to make the magic happen. Which is a stellar example of some of the great relationships I wouldn’t have if I’d never started blogging.

Photo source: here